The Divorce Lawyer’s Diary
Divorce lawyer, Elspeth Kinder, from JMW explains why it’s important to have a team of experts, who can help her clients during separation
As humans, we all cope and respond to life’s challenges in different ways. I am an expert in the legal implications of a separation and through my advice I can empower my clients to make difficult decisions. I consider it essential that I help a client to think through the wider implications of their legal options, and that comes by ensuring the right team is in place to work with me and my client through the minefield of their separation.
My starting point is to recommend to every client that they consider working with a counsellor throughout the legal process and beyond.
The emotional impact of a separation can be wide-reaching and often clients tell me that they are concerned about how the separation will affect their children, wider family, as well as themselves.
I observe, time and again, the positive impact that working with a good therapist can have on clients, giving them an outlet for their fears and helping them to achieve clarity in their thoughts. This can be beneficial to clients when faced with making significant legal decisions and can also help them to conclude the legal process in a more cost-efficient manner.
My advice to clients with school-aged children is to ensure to communicate with the school about the circumstances of the separation. Schools often have fantastic pastoral support and are well-equipped to support students who are living through the breakdown of their family unit. It can reassure clients to know that a trusted teacher is keeping an extra watch on their child.
The financial implications of a separation clearly require careful consideration. There are often underlying tax consequences arising from how a couple’s assets are shared, particularly capital gains tax which might be mitigated if a settlement is structured and planned so that assets can be transferred between a couple within the same tax year that they have separated.
We have just entered a new financial year on 6th April 2021 and I have today advised a new client who is contemplating separating from his wife that doing so now will essentially give them the best part of a year within which to agree how to share their assets during this financial year with minimal tax incurred. For this reason, I will always ensure that my clients have access to expert accountancy advice at an early stage so that tax savings can be planned for and achieved wherever possible.
The last member of the team would be a good financial adviser, who can help my clients to make informed decisions about their financial settlement. I’m currently negotiating a settlement for a lady who has the benefit of working with an independent financial adviser whom I introduced her to, ensuring that the structure of the settlement will meet my client’s needs for the rest of her life.
